Just a short post as I have to go and do a thing with vegetables and a knife and a saucepan, but I can’t not mention that Ed Key and David Kanaga’s wonderful ambient exploration/sorta-music game Proteus finally has a release date for its finished version. January 30th is that date, which it means it’s just over a week until we can discard our beta versions and noodle around in a new, expanded version of this quietly psychedelic dream-forest.
Explains Key, “Since the start of the beta we’ve been refining and expanding Proteus and have reached a point where it feels right to call it “done” (at least until we’ve had a rest and thought about another update).”

The game will launch on its own site and on Steam for $10 on the 30th, but you can save yourself a little bit by buying the still-available beta now, for $7.50. You’ll get the full version and a Steam key come the 30th if you do that. (The same goes for existing purchasers). More details and stuff here, and we’ll have more to say about Proteus itself soon, I don’t doubt.

Meanwhile, here’s footage of an earlier version. I do feel a bit reticent about including a video as Proteus is so much about a particular sort of player in a particular sort of mind nosing around a weird, wondrous, near-magical pixel-world under their own steam, but, well, here you go:

I think I’ve said this in other threads about this game, but the art aesthetic and gameplay of this one really reminds me of Noctis. I wish the guy behind that game would come out of hiding and release some updates!

I think of my one playthrough of Proteus as kind of a holy experience. It was an hour spent far away in a serene and incredible location, and I’m afraid to replace those memories with those of new playthroughs. It’s a tough decision to make. What an unbelievable game.